Bioinformatics: a useful tool for the molecular microbiologist?

Following hard on the heels of the human genome project, microbial genome versions have now begun to produce vast amounts of information on the nucleotide sequences of specific microbes. How useful is this information and how can researchers wade through the millions of base pairs of sequence data to find genes or sequences of interest for either diagnostic or therapeutic strategies? In theory, the answer lies with the new specialty of bioinformatics, which covers genomics, proteomics and metabolomics - terms that are more recognisable to many as molecular genetics and biochemistry